Hello Bernina Lovers!

Today I am writing about a basic thing you must learn when you sew clothes… how to make a bias tape. Either because you want to add that extra look to your sewing projects or because you want a nice finishing in your curved seams.

I love having matching fabric bias as well as stand-out bias, it depends on whom the garment is for, or specially if it an object like a case or something similar. I believe it adds that extra touch to it.

And sometimes, you can not find the exact bias you need, so what a pleasant reason to make it yourself!

Oh and this is also a great scrap fabric buster!!

How to make bias tape…

There are 2 ways of making bias tape. I’ve always used this one, so I will explain you the different steps herewith.

You can start with a 30×30 cm piece…

To start, I suggest you cut a square piece, you can make bias tape starting with a 30×30 cm square, but the bigger the square, the longer your straps will be and the lesser seams you’ll bias tape will have.

Once you have your square, fold it in 2 in the diagonal. I usually iron it to leave mark that line (you can also just trace that line).

Starting from that diagonal, you’ll have to trace parallel lines above and below this one.

The distance between lines will depend on the final width you want your bias to be. It has to be 4 times the final desired width, so if you want a 1 cm bias, your lines will have to be traced at 4 cm from each other.

In the below image, I traced 2 different types of width to make 2 different biases.

Once the parallel lines are traced, cut all the straps (be careful to keep them all in the same way, either right side up or wrong side up).

Then, take the straps 2 by 2, and place them right sides facing, making an L shape. Please note that the edgy corners have to be placed outside of the other strap edge (as seen in the picture).

Pin the 2 straps diagonally (use 2 pins to secure them).

Repeat this same action with all the straps. Remember to always place the straps right sides facing.

You can trace a 45° line from one edge to the other, as seen in the picture. This line will help you sew straight forward from one edge to the other. Don’t forget to secure the stitches at the beginning and at the end.

Sew all the straps you previously pinned.

Iron flat all the seams open. You’ll see that the edgy corners remain outside of the straps, and that is good!

Trim these edgy corners to make a straight strap.

Repeat this with all the seams.

Once your strap is sewn and ironed, you’ll have to iron 1/4 of each side, as you can see in the below pictures.

There are also some bias folding gadgets that are really useful and not expensive.

And voilà, you have your bias tape ready!

You can also see all the steps in this video here:

Now, tell me, do you like making your own bias tape? Did you know this technique already?

How to transform your bias into piping…

Now that you know how to make bias, you can easily transform it to make piping and get that super cutie touch…

Just head to this article here to see the simple steps to make piping. Enjoy!